There are three questions we get asked all the time by someone that is looking to transition to a tech job:
- What job can I get with {insert certification/certificate name here}?
- What certification/certificate can I take to get a tech job?
- Which tech bootcamp will get me a job?
The answer to all three questions is NONE.
You weren’t expecting that, huh?
While a certification or a bootcamp may not get you a job directly, either one or both can be part of a good career transition strategy. So which certification should you take or bootcamp should you attend? Let’s see how to figure that out.
The first step is to figure out which tech role you will target. If you have done that already, excellent, kudos to you! If not, please go to the Start Here page for a step by step guide.
Now, let’s explore certifications and bootcamps in more detail.
Certification
Let’s make a quick distinction first between certification and certificates. Not hugely important, but it may help in understanding the different learning options that are available out there.
Certifications
In theory, when we say “certification” it is meant to mean a professional designation offered by professional associations. For example, the Project Management Institute (PMI) offers the popular PMP certification, which is a professional designation like CPA, MD etc.
Certificates
“Certificates” on the other hand, are offered through various online learning platforms like Coursera and LinkedIn Learning. For example, Google offers a Google Project Management certificate through Coursera. In this context, the certificate is just another name for ‘course of study.’ It does not carry any professional credentials with it.
Why does it matter?
These days, the two words are used interchangeably, but, be aware, that if someone says certification, it may mean a professional designation that has some pre-requisites to obtain. Generally those pre-requisites involve some work experience in the field. For example, the PMP requires some work experience as a project manager. While that’s the case for the PMP, there are other options available that will get you upskilled in the field of project management and don’t have a work experience requirement.
Keep in mind, that, while a certification seems like a sure-fire way to a job, in the real world it’s not that straightforward. A certification should be supporting your skill set, not providing you the skill set.
The idea is that you can take your previous experience and current skill set and translate it to a non-technical tech job. With this approach, doing some training and courses to enhance your current skills is recommended.
Bootcamps
Bootcamps have popped up all over the place in recent years promising amazing results and jobs into the 6 figures.
What is a bootcamp?
A bootcamp is a short term of study usually 3-6 months that aims to teach you practical and job-ready skills in a particular domain like project management, business analysis, coding, data science, etc.
Sounds great? Yes, and it may be. But a few things to consider:
- Anyone can start a bootcamp, many are not accredited and even those that seem to be offered by universities, are usually a third party that the university has allowed to use their name.
- Employers have mixed reviews of bootcamps, it is your demonstrated skills that still matter most.
- You can learn everything they teach you with free or low-cost resources online and by networking.
- Applying for and landing a job will still require targeting the right roles and companies, working on projects to demonstrate skills, getting the experience on your resume reframed towards your target role, writing attention-grabbing cover letters and networking.
With that said, bootcamps can be a good option to get some hands-on experience and potentially some job search support and a referral/alumni network.
Do your research!
Don’t just take what the bootcamp sales reps tell you, get feedback from people that have participated in the bootcamp and aren’t affiliated with them. This is where informational interviews and networking is beneficial, you can ask hiring managers and recruiters how they feel about bootcamps in general or one bootcamp in particular.
Bootcamps, like most things in life, are what you make of it. If you commit the time needed to learn the material, build out your projects to demonstrate your skills (most likely on your own time), network and invest in an attention-grabbing job application package (resume, cover letter, project portfolio etc.), you can achieve your goals. Don’t sign up for a bootcamp thinking that just by completing it you will land a job.
More on bootcamps
Here is an interesting article about bootcamps, but like anything, take it with a grain of salt.
Forge your own path and again DO YOUR RESEARCH. Go into something, like programming, because you want to, not because you feel that it’s a quick and easy way to $100K and a great career; or because someone shared their amazing success and you think you’ll get the same.
The article is right, not everyone can be a programmer.
However, there are some claims in this article that aren’t universally true. Yes, tech can really benefit from more diversity and people from different backgrounds (a fact that companies and hiring managers have recognized to be true), but the claim that “tech companies are not great at bringing in people from diverse backgrounds” can be disputed. It depends on the company and some tech companies really do value diversity at all levels. Look to target these companies in your job search!
Another claim that the article makes, that “career transitions are rare,” is just not true.
Is it hard work? Yes.
Is it rare and impossible? No.
Here is a summary of the article if you don’t want to read the whole thing:
Boot camps sell a 21st-century version of the American dream — one where you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and into a Silicon Valley techy lifestyle in a short period of time.
Not everyone wants to be a programmer, not everyone can be a programmer,” but “there’s money in selling the dream,” and so the boot camps do.
If you do sign up for a boot camp, try to do some research ahead of time. Schools can inflate employment numbers by hiring a bunch of their graduates as teaching assistants, or qualify a lot of questionable jobs as “tech,” among other tactics.
It’s a tricky situation: Tech companies can be elitist, and they’re not great at bringing in people from diverse backgrounds.
Boot camps “overpromise and underdeliver,” – tech needs more diversity and people from different backgrounds, it’s just that the boot camp bootstraps approach may not be the best path. Career transitions can be hard and rare. “It tends to be a way of fooling people into things that are outside their means…”
Source: vox.com
Moral of the story? Everyone’s path is different, so do your research and forge your own.
Ok, ok, now what you have been waiting for.
Which certification or bootcamp to take
Perform the following steps to figure out which certification or bootcamp to persue:
- Find your target role.
- Find job descriptions for your target role (LinkedIn jobs, Indeed.com, etc.)
- Use the job descriptions to understand where you have skill gaps.
- Take a certification, course or bootcamp to fill the gaps.
That’s it! Happy learning!
Ready to start your journey to a career in tech? Check out the Start Here page for step by step guide.
Let T3 help you transition to tech! Get more information on our one on one coaching program HERE.
